Expandable and flexible collar stand and garment with same

ABSTRACT

A garment includes a collar stand comprising an inner piece and an outer piece. At least one of the inner piece and the outer piece is formed from a self-fabric combined with a second material, wherein the collar stand has stretch and recovery in at least two non-laterally-opposing directions thereof.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/877,326, filed Jan. 22, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/698,463 filed Sep. 7, 2017, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/250,688, filed Aug.29, 2016, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/301,075, filed Feb. 29, 2016, the entire contents of each of whichare hereby fully incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/877,326 is also a continuation ofPCT/US2017/016090 filed on Feb. 1, 2017, the entire contents of whichare hereby fully incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.PCT/US2017/016090 also claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/301,075.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

This patent document contains material subject to copyright protection.The copyright owner has no objection to the reproduction of this patentdocument or any related materials in the files of the United StatesPatent and Trademark Office, but otherwise reserves all copyrightswhatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to garments and garment manufacture. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to shirts and expandable shirtcollars.

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW

Shirts, especially men's dress shirts, are typically sized based oncollar circumference and sleeve length. Some shirts, especially men'sdress shirts are generally sized to be worn with the collar closed(e.g., buttoned), and so any shrinkage in the collar will adverselyaffect the wearer. Unfortunately the fabrics used for most dress shirtsis subject to shrinkage from laundering, and so most dress shirts maybecome difficult or uncomfortable to wear after multiple washes. Inaddition, the wearer of a shirt may gain weight, thereby increasingtheir neck size and making their dress shirts difficult to close at theneck.

It is desirable to provide a shirt collar stand that expands, as needed,while keeping its shape, and for it to return to its original length. Itis further desirable to provide a shirt collar stand with little or noshrinkage. It is also desirable to provide a shirt collar stand thatflexes when worn to eliminate the puckering where it joins the backyoke. It is further desirable to provide a shirt with such a collarstand.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the presentinvention will become fully appreciated as the same becomes betterunderstood when considered in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference characters designate the same orsimilar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts aspects of a shirt collar according to exemplaryembodiments hereof;

FIG. 2 depicts an exploded view of aspects of the shirt collar of FIG.1; and

FIG. 3 depicts aspects of a collar stand according to exemplaryembodiments hereof;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the shirt collar attached to a shirt using thecollar stand according to exemplary embodiments hereof; and

FIG. 5 depicts aspects of a shirt collar attached to a shirt using thecollar stand according to exemplary embodiments hereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a shirt 10 incorporating a collar according to exemplaryembodiments hereof. A collar stand 12 is attached to the body of theshirt body 14, e.g., by being sewn along the line X-X′. The collar stand12 may have a button 16 on one end thereof, and a buttonhole 18 on theother end, and typically defines the shirt's neck size. A collar 20 isattached to the collar stand 12, e.g., by inserting a substantiallyrigid portion of the collar 20 into the collar stand 12, and sewingalong the line Y-Y′. FIG. 2 depicts an exploded view of aspects of theshirt collar of FIG. 1.

With reference now to FIG. 3, a collar stand 12 according to exemplaryembodiments hereof, is formed from two substantially matching pieces, aninner piece 22, and an outer piece 24. The inner piece 22 is positionedto be on the inside of the shirt 10, when worn, while the outer piece 24is positioned to be on the outside of the shirt 10, when worn. The innerand outer pieces 22, 24, are overlaid to form the collar stand 12. Thecollar stand 12 preferably curves around the neck when attached to ashirt and worn.

For the purposes of this description, the length of the collar stand 12is the horizontal dimension in the drawings, and the width of the collarstand is the vertical dimension. A collar stand need not have the samewidth across its length (i.e., it may be wider at some points than atothers). Similarly, a collar stand need not have the same length acrossits width (i.e., it may be longer at some points than at others). Forexample, with reference to FIG. 1, the length Y-Y′ need not be the sameas the length X-X′. As is generally understood, the length of the collarstand 12 is the longer dimension, its width being the shorter dimension.

The inner and outer pieces 22, 24 of the collar stand 12 may each beformed by fusing together a self-fabric with a two-way fusiblesubstrate. A two-way fusible substrate is a fusible substrate thatprovides stretch and recovery in two directions, typically, but notnecessarily, vertical to each other. In preferred embodiments thetwo-way fusible substrate has greater stretch in the horizontal orlength direction thereof, preferably about 90% horizontal stretch, withthe other direction of stretch being about 10%.

The self-fabric used to form the inner and outer pieces 22, 24 may beany general shirting fabric, including cotton, poly-cotton, linen, etc.The self-fabric may, but need not be, the same fabric as the shirt.

The self-fabric used to form the pieces 22, 24 may be cut in any way,including, e.g., along its length, breadth, or on a bias.

The self-fabric used to form the pieces 22, 24 may initially be with orwithout stretch (e.g., a compacted woven or compacted knit material).

In some embodiments, the pieces of the collar stand (i.e., the inner andouter pieces 22, 24) may be formed by first compacting the underlyingself-fabric to give it stretch properties, and then combining thecompacted underlying self-fabric with the two-way fusible substrate (tocontrol and give memory to the stretch imposed by the compaction). Asshould be appreciated, the underlying self-fabric has the capacity toextend, and that the extension and recovery is affected by the fusiblesubstrate.

FIG. 4 shows a side view of the shirt collar 20 attached to a shirt body14 using the collar stand 24, according to exemplary embodiments hereof

As noted above, the bottom of the collar stand 12 is attached to theshirt body 14, e.g., along the line X-X′ (FIGS. 1-2). The top of thecollar stand 12 is attached to the collar 20, e.g., by being sewn alongthe line Y-Y′ (FIGS. 1-2).

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 4, to connect the collar 20 to the collarstand 12, a lower and substantially rigid portion of the collar 20 ispositioned between the inner and outer pieces 22, 24 of the collar stand12 and the pieces are connected (e.g., stitched together). The width(W1) of the lower portion of the collar 20 that is positioned betweenthe inner and outer pieces 22, 24 of the collar stand 12 is preferablyabout ⅛ inch to ¼ inch.

The inner and outer pieces 22, 24 of the collar stand 12 are preferablyformed from fabric having stretch and recovery in two directions.Preferably, the collar stand 12 has stretch and recovery in asubstantially horizontal direction, substantially parallel to the bottomof the collar stand, thereby to the top of the shirt. The collar standalso preferably has stretch and recovery in a substantially verticaldirection, substantially vertical to the bottom of the collar stand,thereby to the top of the shirt.

To attach the collar stand 12 to the shirt body 14, a top portion of theshirt body 14 is positioned between the inner and outer pieces 22, 24 ofthe collar stand 12 and the pieces are stitched together. The width (W2)of the shirt portion of the collar 20 that is positioned between theinner and outer pieces of the collar stand is preferably about ⅛ inch to¼ inch.

It should be appreciated that the width W1 should be sufficient tomaintain the collar 20 in the collar stand 12 without taking up too muchspace in the collar stand 12. Similarly, the width W2 should besufficient to maintain the collar stand 12 connected to the shirt body,also without taking up too much space in the collar stand 12.

With reference to FIG. 5, the width W3 of the portion of the collarstand 12 that does not cover either a portion of the collar 20 or aportion of the shirt 14 is preferably at least 80% of the total width ofthe collar stand 12, at least for a substantial length of the collarstand 12. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize andappreciate, upon reading this description, that if the portions of thecollar and shirt that are within the collar stand 12 are too large, thenthe collar stand will lose some of its stretch and/or recoveryproperties. In some preferred embodiments hereof the width W3 averagesbetween 50% and 95% of the total width (W) of the collar stand 12. Inother words, the sum of the widths W1 and W2 averages between 5% and 50%of the total width (W) of the collar stand 12. That is, preferably W1+W2is between 5% and 50% of W along the length of the collar stand 12. Forexample, an exemplary collar stand has a total width of about 1 ¼ inches(W), the width (W1) of the lower portion of the collar is about ¼ inch,and the width (W2) of the shirt portion is also about ¼ inch. In thisexample, the width (W3) is about ¾ inch or 60% of the total width (W) ofthe collar stand.

As noted, the inner and outer pieces 22, 24 of the collar stand 12 arenot necessarily parallel, and so the widths W1 and W2, and the width W3may not be the same across the entire collar stand 12.

As noted, in preferred embodiments hereof, the collar 20, or at leastthe lower portion of the collar 20 that is attached to the collar stand12, is substantially rigid. In some preferred embodiments, e.g., fordress shirts and the like, the entire collar 20 is substantially rigid.The shirt body is generally not rigid, and therefore the bottom of thecollar stand 12 can grow/expand larger than the top. A collar stand thatis about 15% compacted will match the stretch of the attached shirt andmay also match the stretch of a stretch shirt.

The combined collar and collar stand described herein provides numerousadvantages over prior approaches. Since the collar stand has beencompacted, it will not shrink as much as a non-compacted collar.However, when the collar stand does expand, it will return substantiallyto its original length.

As described above, the collar stand 12 is connected to the shirt body14. As understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, the collarstand 12 is connected to different parts of the shirt body 14. In theback of the shirt, the collar stand 12 is typically connected to theshirt's yoke or to a back panel of the shirt. The collar stand describedherein reduces puckering at the connection of the collar stand to theshirt.

This puckering usually happens as a result of shrinkage in oppositedirections or stretch in opposite directions giving an uneven appearanceafter washing, or by incorrect sewing tension used when joining thecollar stand to the shirt (e.g., to the shirt's yoke).

With the collar stand being able to move in two directions, it enablesthe collar stand to remain flat or greatly reduce the puckering thatnormally occurs, especially when the fabric has to curve all around theneck.

Thus is described a shirt collar stand that expands, as needed, whilekeeping its shape, and which returns substantially to its originallength. The described shirt collar stand has little or no shrinkage, andflexes when worn to eliminate puckering where it joins the back yoke ofthe shirt.

Where a process is described herein, those of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate that the process may operate without any userintervention. In another embodiment, the process includes some humanintervention (e.g., a step is performed by or with the assistance of ahuman).

As used in this description, the term “portion” means some or all. So,for example, “A portion of P” may include some of “P” or all of “P”. Inthe context of a conversation, the term “portion” means some or all ofthe conversation.

As used herein, including in the claims, the phrase “at least some”means “one or more,” and includes the case of only one. Thus, e.g., thephrase “at least some ABCs” means “one or more ABCs”, and includes thecase of only one ABC.

As used herein, including in the claims, the phrase “using” means “usingat least,” and is not exclusive. Thus, e.g., the phrase “using Z” means“using at least Z.” Unless specifically stated by use of the word“only”, the phrase “using Z” does not mean “using only Z.”

In general, as used herein, including in the claims, unless the word“only” is specifically used in a phrase, it should not be read into thatphrase.

As used herein, including in the claims, the phrase “distinct” means “atleast partially distinct.” Unless specifically stated, distinct does notmean fully distinct. Thus, e.g., the phrase, “X is distinct from Y”means “X is at least partially distinct from Y,” and does not mean “X isfully distinct from Y.” Thus, as used herein, including in the claims,the phrase “X is distinct from Y” means that X differs from Y in atleast some way.

It should be appreciated that the words “first” and “second” in thedescription and claims are used to distinguish or identify, and not toshow a serial or numerical limitation. Similarly, the use of letter ornumerical labels (such as “(a)”, “(b)”, and the like) are used to helpdistinguish and / or identify, and not to show any serial or numericallimitation or ordering.

While the invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments,it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to thedisclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What is claimed: I claim:
 1. A garment comprising: a collar standcomprising an inner piece and an outer piece, wherein at least one ofthe inner piece and the outer piece is formed from a self-fabriccombined with a second material, wherein the collar stand has stretchand recovery in at least two non-laterally-opposing directions thereof.